Xiake
Xiake was a competitor robot from Suzhou, China which competed in Season 1.5, the debut of This is Fighting Robots. It was the successor to King of Bots runner-up, Chiyung Jinlun, and qualified through its preliminary rumble after being selected by Wu Chun. During the main competition, Xiake's builder served as somewhat of a leader for the Red team, motivating Chun to continue fighting amidst several defeats and robot eliminations for the team in the first round. Xiake would proceed to win its three-way rumble against Model Teenager and Snow Leopard, earning Chun's first victory in the process. However, despite immobilizing 008 in its Tag Team battle, where it was partnered with Vulcan, Xiake was pitted by Greedy Snake and was initially eliminated from the competition at this stage. Xiake would later be reinstated after Wu Chun chose it to return to the Red team, following his victory in a later head-to-head battle, although it lost to Greedy Snake once again under Wu Chun's controls. In order to qualify for the Top 8, Xiake dominated Cat King, despite officially losing the battle due to a 20-second period of immobility. In the Top 8, it first won a decisive battle against Sandstorm, before being eliminated by Tánshè on a Judges' decision in the semi-final after losing drive on one side towards the end of the battle, despite dominating for most of the match. Xiake also won the third place playoff against Shrederator Tiger Claw. Design Xiake was a red and black, box-shaped robot, driven by four externally-mounted wheels enabling it to drive either way up, although the wheels were protected by a layer of polycarbonate. Its main weapon was a large vertical spinning drum, which used two teeth to cause significant damage to opponents. The robot also featured a large front wedge which enabled it to get underneath and push opponents around, as well as lead them into its drum, although this held robots away from the drum when Xiake was inverted. New wedgelets were also made as an optional attachment for Xiake, used in the Cat King fight, attached to hinges which allow the spiked wedges to breach the sides of other robot's wedges. Although Xiake is similar in design to the team's Season 1 entry Chiyung Jinlun, there are some differences. It is painted a light red, and the wheels are not exposed. The drum is also significantly more powerful, notably throwing other robots into the air during battles and performing a 'gyro-dance' during testing. Robot History This is Fighting Robots (Season 1.5) In Episode 1, Xiake's team captain wore robes and conical hats in order to impress the celebrities, but Xiake was not selected by any celebrities, requiring it to compete in the preliminary round. There, Xiake faced 008, Ninja and Saturn in a four-way melee, brief highlights of which were shown in Episode 2. It was initially shown to sustain a head-on collision with 008, which caused both robots to recoil spectacularly across the arena, before Ninja pushed it forwards as all four competitors converged. Xiake proceeded to launch Saturn into the air with its drum, impressing Wu Chun sufficiently for him to select it. Despite having its side panel completely destroyed by Saturn later on in the battle, this enabled Xiake to enter the main competition as part of the Red team. Xiake was then selected to battle Snow Leopard and Model Teenager in the main competition. Xiake and Snow Leopard immediately targeted one another, and sparks flew when Xiake's drum collided with the front forks of Snow Leopard. As Snow Leopard fled, Xiake bulldozed its way past Model Teenager to strike the exposed wheels of Snow Leopard, ripping one of them away, and Xiake immobilized Snow Leopard. Xiake and Model Teenager fought on, but even though Snow Leopard had already been eliminated, its celebrity captain Zhang Yishan was still able to activate the floor flipper. When Xiake drove over the floor flipper, Zhang Yishan capitalized, and overturned it. This proved to be critical, as Xiake's drum no longer made contact with Model Teenager, for its solid wedge protruded further outwards, and Xiake's drum also sub-optimally spun downwards. Nevertheless, after a brief period of inactivity, Xiake drove across the arena and slammed into Model Teenager's bar spinner, ramming it into a wall. Either as a result of this attack, or beforehand, a chain slipped from Model Teenager's weapon, leaving the bar spinner useless. The inverted Xiake rammed Model Teenager into a Grinder, although both robots were struck by the hazard. Model Teenager fled from the pursuant Xiake, and drove over the circular saws in the floor, causing sparks to fly. In the final ten seconds of the battle, Xiake caught Model Teenager side-on, and drove it across the arena, into the very corner of the BattleBox. The battle was sent to a Judges' decision, which was unanimously awarded in favour of Xiake, awarding points to Wu Chun's team for the first time. In the Tag Team round, Xiake was partnered with British entry Vulcan of the Green team. Together, they fought Greedy Snake of the Blue team and 008 of the Yellow team – the second time in the show in which Xiake faced the Team Far North machine. In the opening seconds of the battle, it waited in its starting position while Vulcan pursued 008 and Greedy Snake – eventually, Xiake joined its teammate, briefly bumping into Greedy Snake. Xiake then sustained an attack from 008’s disc, which lifted the Scottish robot upwards – it proceeded to knock 008 back, causing the latter’s disc to hit the floor and send it violently recoiling. As soon as 008 stabilized, Xiake drove into its side, before proceeding to ram into 008s disc and sending its opponent cartwheeling into – and out of – the pit. This attack resulted in 008 sustaining a damaged axle and catching fire, eliminating it early on. With one of its opponents already defeated, Xiake focused on helping Vulcan attack Greedy Snake, but was briefly pushed back by the latter. It spun away, retreated and waited close to the corner as Greedy Snake accidentally pitted itself; both Xiake and Vulcan waited on opposite sides of the arena as Greedy Snake was raised back up to rejoin the battle. With Greedy Snake proceeding to clamp and carry Vulcan into the wall spikes, Xiake pursued its black and green rival, only to drive underneath and briefly get lodged underneath Vulcan as the latter shook itself free from Greedy Snake’s forks. Both robots separated, with Xiake proceeding to ram and pursue Greedy Snake again; however, it inadvertently attacked Vulcan while doing so, damaging the latter’s rear strut in the process. Following another side-on attack on Vulcan, Xiake pursued Greedy Snake once more, this time succeeding in catching up to Greedy Snake and throwing it over with its drum. Xiake attempted to press Greedy Snake against the wall spikes as the latter self-righted, without success, and was momentarily grabbed and pushed from the side by Greedy Snake. Breaking free, Xiake bumped into Vulcan, before making a lunge at an evading Greedy Snake. The two robots collided head-on, the impact throwing Xiake up onto Greedy Snake’s weapon and causing it to land in the pit nearby. Instantly, Xiake was eliminated via knockout, and played no further part in the battle while Vulcan survived to a Judges’ decision - the Xiake team subsequently apologized to Alan Young of Team Robots Live! for their defeat. The decision went against Xiake and Vulcan, eliminating both robots from the competition. Following his victory in a later head-to-head round, Wu Chun selected Xiake to re-join the Red team, effectively allowing it to be reinstated for later rounds. Wu Chun then drove Xiake in a three-way rumble against Greedy Snake and Shrederator Tiger Claw. Xiake initially held back, due to its new driver's nerves. While Greedy Snake and Shrederator Tiger Claw became distracted with one another, Xiake charged into the side of Greedy Snake, grinding at its underside while also ripping decorative spikes from the arena wall. Xiake later capitalized on Greedy Snake pushing Shrederator Tiger Claw around, and threw Shrederator Tiger Claw from the floor and into the wall. However, Xiake drove onto Greedy Snake's wedge, and was pushed into the corner of the arena itself. Xiake had become stuck on debris which it had previously ripped from the wall, but it drove into the back of Greedy Snake and pushed it into the spinner of Shrederator Tiger Claw, also carrying it into the arena wall to slam Greedy Snake high into the air. Xiake took another hiatus while Shrederator Tiger Claw and Greedy Snake fought on, when suddenly, Xiake charged in and clashed with the spinner of Shrederator Tiger Claw, throwing it into a Grinder, where it recoiled straight back into the side of Greedy Snake, and Xiake also drove under Greedy Snake to hit its base. Greedy Snake shepherded Shrederator Tiger Claw back, damaging the arena wall again, but a hit from Xiake's drum threw the American machine into the air, and directly into Greedy Snake's grappling weapon, bending it. Xiake had become stuck on debris again, so Shrederator Tiger Claw hit the arena wall and bounced into Xiake, damaging the side of the machine. Xiake made no further plays in the final fifteen seconds of the match, and time expired on the battle. The judges were required to decide who had won the battle out of the three active machines, and they ultimately voted in favour of Greedy Snake, resulting in Xiake's second consecutive loss to Greedy Snake. For this battle, Xiake was outfitted with two wedgelets, while Cat King used its vertical spinner. Both robots met in the center of the arena, and Xiake was immediately able to breach Cat King's wedge, repeatedly hitting it from below, throwing sparks and Cat King together. A big hit from Xiake launched Cat King over one meter into the air. Xiake maintained its assault, pursuing the fleeing Cat King from behind, and also struck its wedge in order to grind at the underside of Cat King. Pieces of Cat King were visibly strewn across the arena, after Xiake's grinding attack had created shrapnel. Cat King had lost full control of its wheels, and was largely turning in circles, although Xiake backed away to the center of the arena and briefly stopped moving, with its drum also disabled. Xiake revived, and drove straight under Cat King's wedge to toss the robot high into the air, again throwing more loose pieces from Cat King. However, Xiake's strong lead was suddenly threatened when Xiake attempted to drive Cat King into the wall, and instead lost mobility under the spikes lining the arena wall, seemingly pinned. A total of twenty seconds passed, while Cat King's team encouraged the referee to count out Xiake while it was stuck. However, the referee did not count Xiake out of the battle, and the robot was turned off and on, as signaled by the LED's behind the robot's drum, which had started spinning again, and Xiake escaped, to the visible joy of the referee. Once Xiake re-entered the battle, it reasserted itself by driving under the side of Cat King to ram it into the wall housing the Grinder. Cat King's team were visibly upset, while Xiake rammed Cat King into the Grinder, completing seven rams before time expired on the battle. The battle was sent to a Judges' decision, after Xiake had appeared to have dominated the fight. However, the captain of Team Food Fight asserted that Xiake had been immobile for twenty seconds during the battle without being counted out, and reminded the celebrities and Judges that a robot may only be immobile for ten seconds. Both the Judges and the celebrities reviewed the footage of the battle, and based on Xiake's twenty seconds of inactivity, the victory was awarded to Cat King. Despite Xiake's loss, it still advanced to the Top 8 as one of the two active members in the Red team. In its quarter-final, Xiake faced Sandstorm of the Green team. The fight started with both robots charging at each other, and Sandstorm smashed into Xiake's drum head-on with an impact that not only threw it into the air, but also caused a wheel to become dislodged. Xiake took an early lead, and initially succeeding in dodging all of Sandstorm's charges, but eventually Sandstorm succeeded in getting under its opponent. As Sandstorm found itself unable to utilize this this attack, Xiake escaped. Due to Xiake's wedgelets being so close to the floor, this made it challenging for Sandstorm to get underneath Xiake. After a few more attempts to get underneath the Chinese machine, Sandstorm finally succeeded in getting underneath it properly, and slammed Xiake into the wall spikes. As Xiake managed to escape again though, a mistimed attack by Sandstorm meant it drove into Xiake's drum. This impact caused a belt to fall from Sandstorm, which precariously landed on its own wedge in such a way that its wheels did not make contact with the floor. Unable to self-right from this position, Xiake could be seen dancing in the background as Sandstorm was counted out and declared KO'ed, awarding Xiake the victory. In the semi-final of the competition, Xiake fought the British flipper of Tánshè, as the only Chinese representative left in the competition. Results |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 3 *Losses: 3 NOTE: Xiake's preliminary rumble is not considered a win or a loss. Series Record Outside King of Bots Before appearing on King of Bots, the Xiake team competed in the Chinese FMB (Fighting My Bots) competitions with the featherweight Little Beezlebub from Impasse. A four-wheeled robot featuring a similar shape and drum weapon to ther KoB Season 1 entry Chiyung Jinlun, Little Beezlebub from Impasse debuted at the inaugural FMB Championship in 2016, where it finished runner-up to Gagu Snake. In addition to this, their other Heavyweight, Chiyung Jinlun was on the waiting list for RoboGames in 2018, but ultimately did not compete. At the King of Bots featherweight championship held in the United Kingdom at the gaming festival Insomnia, the team entered a scaled-down version of Xiake named Little Devil, also known as FROG. It lost its first battle to Telekinesis after becoming stuck on part of the arena floor, and then lost to Orpheus after becoming stuck in the wall. This happened for a third time against Saber-X, but Little Devil was freed by its opponent, and won the battle after Saber-X became stuck in the same manner. Little Devil qualified for the Top 20, and defeated the substitute entry Orpheus by ripping the robot apart with a devastating hit, although it lost its Top 8 qualifier to Rocket after driving into the pit. Trivia *As the only Chinese robot in the Top 4 of the competition, Xiake was the most successful Chinese robot in This is Fighting Robots, a title shared by Chiyung Jinlun in King of Bots. Category:This is Fighting Robots competitors Category:Season 1.5 competitors Category:Chinese Robots Category:Robots from Suzhou Category:Robots with drum spinners Category:Invertible robots Category:Robots with an equal amount of Wins and Losses Category:Reinstated robots Category:King of Bots Third Place Category:Semi-Finalists Category:Quarter-Finalists